My daughter and I had an idea to start a digital magazine with writings by girls, for girls. This could be a great resource to encourage writing for homeschoolers. We are trying to encourage more submissions and just released our first issue. It’s all free. Gemag.me is our site. We would love if you would help us get a start.

Comments (5)

Generally this is the type of thing I’d want to help with. But this project is only something an adult would do — kids don’t do “electronic magazines” they do tumbler or Instagram and Yoube. Maybe the do TedX if they have a parent who functions as a Svengali.

Moreover, today kids can get published everywhere, and adult publications publish kids all the time, so why have a girls only publication? It seems like it’s telling girls they can’t compete with boys or adults, but that is not the case at all.

It’s really important for you to encourage your daughter to connect with other kids so she doesn’t end up doing projects that only adults
Also, the fact that your daughter is agreeing to do this at all tells me that she is not on the Internet very much. If she spent more time online she would find communities of kids who write, and she’d find an audience for what she wants to say, and she’d see that kids are way past what electronic magazines have to offer.

The best thing you can do to help your daughter develop as a writer is let her go online and do whatever she wants. Writing is about finding your voice, but so is navigating the Internet. And she needs to do that – without you.

Actually, there’s already something almost exactly the same as your site – it’s called Rookie.com Each month they send out a writing prompt and publish the best essays online. They have a huge community.

Thank you for your feedback but I must respectfully disagree. Telling my daughter that in order for her electronic magazine to succeed, she must include boys will probably have more of an adverse affect than the other. It’s already a non-competitive magazine that just encourages female writers. A magazine having a particular point of view is hardly a new concept. A sports magazine that doesn’t feature arts and crafts isn’t saying the other isn’t important, it just isn’t choosing to include that in its pages. She wanted a better alternative to the tween/teen magazines that are advertisement laden and repetitive so I told her to write it and while she was at it, have her friends write too. She is hardly a sheltered, unsocialized or boy phobic 13 year old girl. She was the “girlie-girl” among a family of all boys (who I might add despise and loathe writing) and loves to have her space free from the things they enjoy and she doesn’t. She was writing a blog that she created by herself in 2nd grade, creates crafting and other YouTube videos, makes TikTok videos and is all over Instagram and Pinterest. However, she doesn’t feel magazines are an irrelevant form of media and feels more accomplished than ever being on the flipping pages of a digital magazine. She hopes other girls like her will find the same joy and accomplishment as she has.

I also do not think that targeting girls/young women a bad idea, since they are generally the greatest consumers today. I would back the project up with companion social media for sure (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr) to get more traffic to the website.

My question would be: How are you planning on monetizing the project? Free work is a good think as long as you have a plan on using the audience at some point.